Instead of introducing a non-confidence motion in an attempt to force the Liberal government into an election, the Conservatives delivered a scathing indictment of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for proroguing Parliament, effectively shutting the House of Commons until the end of March.
Trudeau’s decision to announce his intention to step down has foiled the Conservatives’ original plan to trigger another non-confidence vote on Tuesday in a House of Commons public accounts committee meeting. That meeting will no longer take place, as prorogation also extends to committee work.
In a press conference, Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer and Deputy House Leader Luc Berthold bashed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for putting his personal needs and party interests above those of Canadians by proroguing Parliament.
“Rather than allow that to happen, Justin Trudeau has selfishly shut down Parliament to avoid accountability,” said Scheer. “Justin Trudeau has run and hid from accountability and cowardly announced his resignation rather than give Canadians the choice, putting (an election) off until sometime in March.”
The prorogation comes despite unprecedented misery, Scheer explained. Misery that has resulted in families with two incomes being forced to visit food banks for the first time, Canadians turning down their thermostats to avoid paying more in carbon tax, and homeless encampments taking over the country.
“Once again, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have proven that they put themselves ahead of the Canadian people,” said Scheer.
Although the Liberals will have to select a new leader, Scheer said this will change nothing because the speculative candidates are all ministers who have “been vocal cheerleaders of Justin Trudeau and his policies.”
He called out Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, and Christy Clark, citing their past failures.
But Liberals weren’t the only ones at fault, according to Scheer. He said that all of this could have been avoided if NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh ripping up the supply and confidence agreement was not directly followed by him continuing to prop up the Liberals in the House of Commons.
Berthold echoed the comments in French, saying that the Bloc Québecois and NDP are ready to vote non-confidence against the government.
“There’s no doubt that if Jagmeet Singh had done so earlier this fall, if he had backed up his words with action, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” said Berthold. “But unfortunately, he wanted to wait until February for his pension. He’s got it now. He was ready to vote for our (non-) confidence. Justin Trudeau has found a way out, and unfortunately, it’s Canadians who are going to pay the price.”
“Life wasn’t like this in Canada before the Liberals took office, and it won’t be like this in Canada after Canadians vote them out,” said Scheer.
He warned that the country remains very volatile, especially concerning President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, as Canada has no leader with a public mandate to negotiate on its behalf.
However, during his party’s leadership election, Trudeau will remain Canada’s prime minister and negotiator. Scheer criticized his past failures as the country’s lead negotiator.
He said that Trudeau capitulated to Trump during his first presidency and then backed down to President Joe Biden by failing to get an exemption on softwood lumber or new energy exports to the United States.
“He’s effectively moved the inevitable date where he will face a non-confidence vote from the end of January to the end of March,” said Scheer. “Those are two extra months of uncertainty and chaos and misery that Canadians will have to live through, and it’s put our country in an incredibly dangerous position when dealing with the United States.”